U.N. - 7 Luglio 2020 The Global Monitor of Covid-19’s Impact on Democracy and Human Rights At the beginning of the pandemic, some policy analysts assumed that democracies would have performed better than autocracies in coping with the crisis. It has soon become apparent that state capacities and the quality of leadership played a more important role than the type of political regime. In fact, democracy aspects do not seem to affect fatality rates significantly. International IDEA analyzed whether basic welfare standards, civil society participation and personal integrity rights, for example, are important factors for limiting mortality during the first stages of the pandemic. On 7 July International IDEA will launch a Global Monitor of COVID-19’s Impact on Democracy and Human Rights co-funded by the European Union.
News - 25 Giugno 2020 Free Speech, Opinions and Ignorance. Where to Draw the Line? With the right of free speech comes the duty of taking responsibility for what is said. The fact that we are free to express our own opinions doesn’t make these automatically right and true. In fact, what is an opinion? We all have the same rights and you can’t discriminate against an individual or a whole category of individuals on the basis of sex, religion, social class, disability or the color of their skin. The human being originated from primates (a gorilla’s evolution to be precise) between 7 and 5.8 million years ago and you know where? In Africa.
News - 15 Giugno 2020 Global Alert: Covid-19 Is the Perfect Pretext for Limiting Freedom of the Press The crackdown on journalism affects not only everyone’s right to speak freely, but it also weakens efforts to tackle the disease. Access to timely and accurate information is a crucial part of every individual’s right to health; and by restricting access to information, governments effectively prevented its citizens from making informed decisions when it came to facing the pandemic.
U.N. - 25 Maggio 2020 Libya, the Never-Ending War That No Virus (or Negotiation) Is Able to Stop At the beginning of May, the European mission "Irini" ("peace"), intended to contribute to the implementation of the UN arms embargo, started amid several difficulties. The initiative has already triggered some criticism. As the Libyan government pointed out, the mission "lacks the mechanisms to stop the shipments of weapons and mercenaries that flow into Haftar militias by land and air, mainly from the United Arab Emirates." Moreover, the quarrelsome negotiations between the European countries have proven to what extent migration remains one of the main controversial and insoluble issues within the EU.
U.N. - 26 Aprile 2020 COVID-19 and Human Rights: The Virus Does Not Discriminate, Its Impacts Do People living in poverty, homeless people, people with disabilities and in institutions, people in detention, indigenous communities, migrants and asylum seekers all face additional challenges in protecting themselves and accessing treatment.
U.N. - 6 Aprile 2020 As Gender-based Violence Rises During Pandemic, Guterres Calls for a “Ceasefire” Violence against women and girls is globally increasing as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads, introducing economic and social stressers along with measures to restrict contact and movement. As a result, many women are now trapped at home with their abusers.
News - 6 Agosto 2019 How Salvini’s Security Decree Will Criminalize the Sea Rescue Operations The security decree consists of 18 articles, mainly aimed at regulating the sea rescue operations. In the first article, the reform states that the Interior Minister is entitled to restrict or prohibit ships’ entry or transit in the Italian territorial waters. The article’s—and the whole decree’s—main target is represented by the NGO's ships that seek to save migrants’ lives in the Mediterranean Sea, and that, according to the Law of the Sea, often identify Italy as the first safe harbor to disembark them. However, according to the decree, their entry into the Italian territorial waters can be prohibited, whenever the crime of facilitation of illegal immigration can be presumed.
English - 31 Luglio 2019 Humanity at the Crossroad of Morality: Anti-diversity and the Spread of Populism Up to recently, it was possible to imagine a world without national borders. Now the toxic rhetoric of wannabe dictators, white supremacists and hate-mongers in power may tip us over the edge into the kind of dystopia that features the breakdown of democracy, civil war, concentration camps and genocide.
U.N. - 9 Luglio 2019 Bachelet Says US Detention Centers Could Be Breaking International Law She [UN human right chief Bachelet] explained that “even for short periods under good conditions,” the detention of children “can have a serious impact on their health and development.” Furthermore, Bachelet stated that “according to several UN human rights bodies, detaining migrant children may constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment that is prohibited under international law.” The High Commissioner’s condemnation of the US border detention facilities comes just days after the release of the report by the US Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General. The report called for “immediate attention and action” to the “dangerous overcrowding and prolonged detention of the children and adults in the Rio Grande Valley” detention centers.
News - 29 Giugno 2019 Sea-Watch 3 Captain Carola Rackete Is a Strong Woman Who Saved Human Beings On the 16th day, after several appeals to the Italian authorities had gone unanswered, Carola decided to break the naval blockade--and Italian law--and to enter Italy’s territorial waters. When she realized that the Italian Government would not give the authorization to disembark migrants in any case, on the 17th day, in the middle of the night, she also entered Lampedusa harbor. "At this moment the Sea-Watch 3 is entering Lampedusa harbor. It's been almost 60 hours since we declared a state of emergency. No one listened. No one took responsibility. Once more it's up to us, to Captain Carola Rackete and her crew, to bring the 40 people to safety,” the NGO wrote on Facebook.